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The Caton Team believes, in order to be successful in the San Fransisco Silicon Valley Real Estate Market we have to think and act differently. We do this by positioning our clients in the strongest light, representing them with the upmost integrity, while strategically maneuvering through negotiations and contracts. Together we make dreams come true.

Month: January 2018

Protect your home from harsh winter weather and get a jump-start on your top projects for the year

January may be cold and dark, but it can also be a time for bold beginnings. Make the most of your month by clearing space in your home, boosting warmth and dreaming up plans for the year ahead. Here are 13 to-dos to give your home a little midwinter TLC.

Things to Check Off Your List in an Hour or Less

Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. With more heater use and wood fires in the fireplace, it is especially important during winter to make sure those smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working. Use the test button on each device, and change batteries as needed.

Organize the board games. When bad weather has you stuck indoors and you’re looking for an alternative to screen time, board games and cards are a crowd-pleaser. Pull out everything you’ve got and check that each set has all of the pieces. Put games your family no longer enjoys aside to give away, and put the rest back neatly.

Organize cold-weather accessories. Stay toasty warm with plush, thick socks, cozy hats, scarves and gloves or mittens. Sort through your sock drawer, entryway baskets and hooks and anywhere else cold-weather accessories are hiding, and take stock of what you have. Replenish as needed.

Tackle These Tasks Over a Weekend

Protect pipes from freezing. Why? Because frozen pipes can burst, leading to costly repairs. If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to insulate any exposed outdoor pipes. And if you’re planning to be away from home, ask a friend or neighbor to turn on your water to a trickle. Also, find out where your home’s water shut-off valve is so you can cut off the water quickly if a pipe does burst — and be sure to show your house sitter where it is.

Refresh play spaces. Entice little ones stuck indoors to creative play and cut down on cries of “I’m bored!” Try adding a chalkboard or whiteboard wall, a play tent or tepee, an area for messy art, a “stage” for acting or a tumbling mat.

Give potted plants some TLC. If your house gets very dry in the winter with the heater on, you may need to add humidity to the air around some plants, especially citrus trees and ferns. You can use a humidifier or simply spritz them with plain water occasionally.

Clear home and wardrobe clutter. Make a fresh start with the new year and clear out the clutter. If dealing with the whole house feels overwhelming, focus on just a few categories of items, such as clothes, books and children’s toys.

Clean out the kitchen and pantry. Remove everything from the pantry, toss out stale and expired foods and wipe down the shelves before putting everything back.

Clean out the fridge and freezer, and clear off countertops. Let the refreshed space motivate you to stick with your health resolutions for the new year.

Knock heavy snow from tree branches. Heavy coatings of snow can cause tree limbs to break — which can be especially dangerous if a large limb is positioned near your home. Using a long-handled broom or rake, gently knock snow from branches after each storm.

Take down holiday decorations, and store them well. When you’re ready to put away the holiday decorations, take the time to do it with care (you’ll thank yourself later). Wrap delicate ornaments in tissue paper, and wrap string lights around cardboard to prevent tangling. Consider giving away ornaments that didn’t make it onto the tree this year, and repair or toss broken items. And if you’re not ready to say goodbye to the white twinkle lights quite yet, leave them up. We can all use a little extra cheer in the middle of winter.

Give in to the urge to hibernate. In winter, it’s natural to want to spend extra time at home, just relaxing. Make yourself a haven for snuggling up to watch a movie or read. Layer on warming textiles, pour some hot tea or make cocoa, and settle in.

Maintenance and Extras to Budget for This Month

Take steps to prevent ice dams. Ice dams are areas of built-up ice that can accumulate around your roof line, causing leaks when the backed-up snow behind them begins to melt. Using a roof rake, remove snow after each storm. And, if you notice an ice dam beginning to form (and if you can safely reach the area), break it up now to prevent future damage.

Start looking for that contractor NOW if you want your project done by summer’s end.

Whew. The holidays are done. The new year has rung in.

That’s when smart homeowners know it’s time to do these five things that’ll save time, money, and hassles all year long:

#1 Organize Your Seasonal Storage Space

Packing away holiday decor presents a big opportunity. It’s the best time to sort, declutter, and reorganize that space where you store your seasonal stuff.

So before simply stuffing your holiday things back in there somewhere, take inventory, then sort, filter, donate, trash, and re-home as many of your things as possible.

It’ll help keep you more organized all year long, and make it easier to find all your holiday stuff next year.

#2 Deep-Clean the Kitchen

All of that holiday merriment-making is rough on a kitchen. Give it a good deep cleaning now that the glittery dust has settled.

Purge your pantry and frisk your fridge, passing what you can on to local food banks. Scrub the walls and kick-boards, and even pull those appliances right out from the walls for a thorough vacuuming to prevent gunk (and stinks!) from accumulating.

#3 Plan Summertime Projects Now (Especially if You Need a Pro)

Finalize plans for any landscaping, decks, patios, or other outdoor projects that need warm weather. Two good reasons:

1. If you’re DIYing, you’ll be ready to roll at the first hint of nice weather.

2. If you’re hiring a contractor or other professional, getting your bids and contracts in place now will save you from competing with the spring rush (wait too long, and you may not be able to book anyone!).

#4 Create a Schedule to Clean ALL Your Home’s Filters

It’s not just your HVAC. The filters in your fridge, your vacuum cleaner, your dryer, your air filter, and other household items need to be changed or cleaned at least once a year to be effective, usually more often — especially your dehumidifier. Yucky mold grows easily there.

Check manufacturer instructions for all the filters in your home, and create a master schedule, then add them to your calendar app to remind you.

#5 Save Some Green at White Sales

Linens and towels go on sale in January. It’s a long-standing retail tradition that started back when linens only came in white (hence the name), and still has a solid rep as a money-saver — only in more colors today.

Cut your threadbare bath towels into rags and restock your supply, plus fill in any gaps in your bed linens you may have noticed if you had a house full of holiday guests.

Development of office space is shifting toward suburban areas, though San Francisco is expected to remain a top spot for such development throughout 2018, Commercial Café reports. Economists project that the overall office market will see growth in the new year. On a national level, 347 buildings and close to 75 million square feet of new office space will be delivered in 2018. Forty-seven percent of that total will be located in suburban areas.

Nearly 35 million square feet of office space is expected to hit the nation’s suburbs in 2018. That beats out the 24 million square feet projected in urban areas and 15 million square feet for central business districts. Investors are shifting their focus toward the suburbs, where vacant land is still available and there’s potential for large-scale development, according to Commercial Café.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s rising number of tech companies and startups continue to drive more office construction. The area is expected to boast the largest number of new suburban office space in 2018, with a total of 5.9 million square feet.

Though many are stuck renting out of financial necessity, millennials show the same desire for homeownership as their parents and grandparents—and traditional suburban properties appeal to them more than renting or buying in cities, Bloomberg reports.

Many economists have acknowledged that the slow path to homeownership for young adults is contributing to record-low homeownership rates. But for two consecutive quarters, the homeownership rate among those ages 35 and younger has been on the rise. Some economists predict that millennials will eventually own homes at similar rates as their parents.

Rents, however, are taking a bigger bite out of household budgets, making it difficult for young adults to save enough for a down payment. Student loan debt is also delaying homeownership by up to five years, according to a 2016 study by the National Association of REALTORS®. Millennials also have less job security than prior generations, and their careers are more likely to require relocation.

“You go back 20 or 30 years, people would get a job in their late 20s, early 30s, with the idea that they might work there until retirement,” Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Bloomberg. “People aren’t in that boat today.”

Young adults who are ready for homeownership are also facing a shortage of homes in the market. “The result is that price gains continue to exceed income growth through scarcity, particularly in that smaller home market, which is the hardest market for a builder to essentially reach and build to these days,” Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, told Bloomberg.

Overall, though, economists seem to be upbeat about millennials. They’re getting married and having children later than their parents did, but they are starting to “cross barriers typically associated with buying,” Bloomberg reports.

“Right now, probably a third of our housing business is young couples coming out of the apartments,” Chris Nelson, a builder in Simsbury, Conn., told Bloomberg. “We really think that’s just the beginning—that over the next three to five years, we’re going to see a ton of people coming out of the apartments, buying homes.”

Are you ready to buy a home? Contact The Caton Team anytime! Info@TheCatonTeam.com